News

Health workers ‘failed abused six’

An inquiry into the Roscommon "house of horrors" case has concluded that health workers missed a number of opportunities to take the six children into care after the family was notified to the Mid-Western Health Board in 1989.

Last week a jury found the father, 52, guilty of 47 counts of rape and sexual assault against his son, now 20. The offences took place from 2000 to 2004, when the boy and his siblings were finally taken into care.

Last year the mother was found guilty of incest with another son, and neglect of her children. She is serving a seven-year jail sentence.

After the mother's conviction in January 2009, the Health Service Executive (HSE) started an inquiry into its handling of the case. It is being led by Norah Gibbons, a director of Barnardos. One family member has still to be interviewed, and the inquiry is expected to publish